# Watson Ranch Chardonnay (2023)

- **Producer:** Arnot-Roberts
- **Colour:** white
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Chardonnay
- **Region:** California, United States
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 12.5%
- **Average price:** €48
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 10–12 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** blossom, pear, lemon, orange, mint, fennel, bread, toast, butter, honey

## About this wine

Arnot-Roberts was founded in 2001 by Napa Valley natives Duncan Arnot Meyers and Nathan Lee Roberts. Championing a stylistic shift toward high-acid, site-expressive California wines, they source from unique, cool-climate vineyard locations. Watson Ranch is situated on a steep hillside at the southernmost end of Napa Valley overlooking San Pablo Bay. The vineyard features a rare fin of calcareous clay over limestone from an adjacent historical quarry, bringing a distinctly mineral-driven profile reminiscent of European whites to Napa Valley Chardonnay.

## Interesting facts

- The vineyard sits adjacent to an abandoned quarry that mined limestone to rebuild San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake.
- Co-founder Nathan Roberts is a second-generation cooper who handcrafts the oak barrels used to age the winery's allocations.
- Planted on rare calcareous clay over limestone, an extremely unusual soil composition for Napa Valley Chardonnay.

## Food pairing

The wine's striking natural salinity and vibrant acidity cut through rich textures like butter and cream while perfectly accentuating fresh seafood, herbs, and earthy goat cheeses.

## Wine making process

Harvested manually in October 2023 from organically farmed Clone 4 vines planted in 1993. Grapes are whole-cluster pressed and fermented spontaneously using native yeasts in stainless steel tanks. The wine ages for 10 months in neutral French oak barrels handcrafted personally by co-proprietor and cooper Nathan Roberts, avoiding heavy oak influence to emphasize site specificity, saline minerality, and vibrant natural acidity.